Letters to the Editor

A recent poll found that 85% of US voters believe “corporations have too much influence over the political system,” and “93% say that average citizens have too lit­tle influence.”

This corporate takeover of our government is the root cause of most of our problems, including the environ­mental crises, wars abroad, our wrecked economy, and a popular culture of excessive materialism and violence.

To free our country from this destructive influence we must strike at the root cause — Big Business's spending onslaught against our democracy. 93% of vot­ers believe “there should be clear limits on how much money corporations can spend to influence the outcome of an election.”

But citizens’ attempts to limit corporate election spending were recently outlawed by the Supreme Court, which believes that corporations are “people” with human rights, and that their million$ spent to sway vot­ers is protected “free speech.”

To end this corruption of our democracy we must amend the Constitution to clarify that corporations are not people and money is not speech.

Fortunately, there is a nationwide movement to do just that (MoveToAmend.org). You can help our local effort to get our municipal governments to endorse Move-To-Amend to End-Corporate-Personhood by contacting me at tw@mcn.org or 937-1113.

Tom Wodetzki

Albion

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TRANSPLANTS FOR THE RICH

Dear Editor:

Noted an article in the paper that certainly is a harbin­ger of the direction of the country under the GOP and their program for America. In Arizona, a state politi­cally controlled by an ultra conservative Republican legislature and governor, the right wingers are doing their best to destroy the safety network for the poor and other marginalized citizens of their state. In Phoenix a person with leukemia was waiting for a bone-marrow transplant when he got the good news there were two donors who were possible matches. Then he got the bad news: new budget cuts for Arizona's Medicaid program eliminated coverage for many types of transplants including bone-marrow transplants. Of course, if this person dies because he didn't he get the transplant he can always get a free burial in potter's field. Now the gover­nor and the legislature do have lots of compassion — for the wealthy, corporations, lobbyists, and their political money contributors. Plus, when they go to church on Sunday God will tell them they did the right thing.

Nearly a million workers won't get a consumer protec­tion in the US health reform law meant to cap insurance costs because the government exempted their employers.

Thirty companies and organizations, including McDonald's (MCD) and Jack in the Box (JACK), won't be required to raise the minimum annual benefit included in low-cost health plans, which are often used to cover part-time or low-wage employees.

The Department of Health and Human Services, which provided a list of exemptions, said it granted waivers in late September so workers with such plans wouldn't lose coverage from employers who might choose instead to drop health insurance altogether.

Without waivers, companies would have had to pro­vide a minimum of $750,000 in coverage next year, increasing to $1.25 million in 2012, $2 million in 2013 and unlimited in 2014.

“The big political issue here is the president prom­ised no one would lose the coverage they've got,” says Robert Laszewski, chief executive officer of consulting company Health Policy and Strategy Associates.

“Here we are a month before the election, and these companies represent 1 million people who would lose the coverage they've got.”

The United Agricultural Benefit Trust, the Califor­nia-based cooperative that offers coverage to farm work­ers, was allowed to exempt 17,347 people. San Diego-based Jack in the Box's waiver is for 1,130 workers, while McDonald's asked to excuse 115,000.

The biggest single waiver, for 351,000 people, was for the United Federation of Teachers Welfare Fund, a New York union providing coverage for city teachers. The waivers are effective for a year and were granted to insurance plans and companies that showed that employee premiums would rise or that workers would lose coverage without them, Santillo says.

Best,

Bob Ross

Fort Bragg

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ANYTHING

Editor:

I’m tired of hearing from one politician or another claiming they can create jobs. In a civilized society we would be trying to eliminate jobs so we can have more time to enjoy ourselves. But this isn’t a civilized society. It’s Capitalism.

John Wester

San Diego

PS. I sent this letter to the San Diego Union-Tribune but they wouldn't print it. Don't know why. Maybe you will since you print anything.

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CRYSTAL BALLS

Editor,

The linear thinkers have gone to the future and are reporting back to those of us who live in the present that the future is very bad. Those of us who live in the pre­sent change our ways, because that is what you can do when you live in the present. The linear thinkers have gone back to the future to see if it is working. Those of us who live in the present are enjoying our new ways.

Glen Squire

Navarro

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RADIATION’S GOOD FOR YOU

Editor,

The purpose of this note is to comfort those who have fears of radio waves.

I joined the US Marine Corps in 1943 and went to radar school, where I was exposed to radio/radar waves every day.

After school I was assigned to a dive bomber training squadron where every day I tuned 100-watt transceivers while sitting about 1 foot from the antenna. Also from the antenna I could draw a 2-inch arc with a lead pencil.

After college (thank you, GI Bill), I went to work for Lockheed in the Antenna Research Department where my job was testing antennas.

In one test in a screen room, the RF level was so high I could hold a four-foot fluorescent tube in my hand while it lit up. I invented the light sword!

For the rest of my working life, 42 years, I was exposed to radiation levels much higher than cellphones or SmartMeters every working day. I am now 85 and in pretty good health, which I owe to RF radiation. So relax , enjoy, and get some radiation every day.

John Hill

Belmont

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COLUMBUS DAY

Dear Editor,

October 11 is marked as Columbus Day here in the USA, a repetitive tradition that is based on falsehoods, falsehoods that were and still are promoted by the Catholic church. I would stand corrected if someone would tell me just what part of the USA Columbus dis­covered.

In any event, all the discoveries of various parts of the Americas done by Europeans overlook the fact that there were indigenous humans here before their arrival — or not. Those that landed at Plymouth Rock were greeted by some of those people.

Not considering these native Americans, the next dis­coverer of North America was Leif Erickson in 1010, a native of Iceland, long before Columbus landed on islands in the Atlantic Ocean south of Florida. The peo­ples of the northeast and northern mid-west respect this accomplishment of Leif Erickson with an annual cele­bration called Leif Erickson Day on October 9th.

So, here in the US this Columbus Day propaganda has been perpetuated with the help of the Catholic Church, no surprise.

Happy Leif Erickson Day.

Carl Flach

Alameda

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D VS. R

Mighty AVA,

Here's my Voter Guide for a New American Century: “D” is for disappoint and “R” is for regress. Those, sadly, are our two major-party choices in this country, which is why we all need to start voting for independent, or third party, candidates in the coming elections.

The important fact is that both major parties serve the same master: Big Money. A vote down either rathole garners the same result: more of the same. That is why the ruling elite — the only ones happy with the way things currently are — would like to see you continue worrying about Ds and Rs.

It's like professional wrestling, where the promoters care only about the take at the gate, not the outcome of the match. The “fight” is merely an act, put on to capture the crowd's attention, to the point where they become invested in the outcome. In the long run, it doesn't matter who wins or loses each match as long as the performers put on a good show and keep the marks coming back for more.

I don't think Not Voting is the answer, that just makes it easier for the status quo to keep itself in power. The answer, short of actual revolution, is voting inde­pendent. Individually, it's a small thing, but voting is where our power lies, and many of us, acting together, could make it a big thing. The freedom to do so comes from the real understanding that it doesn't matter if a D or an R wins. That is a trap, and remains a race to the bottom. As Noam Chomsky likes to say, “voting for the lesser of two evils is still a vote for evil.” We can do better than that, and we should.

Mike Kalantarian

Navarro

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PATTERSON FAN

Ye Editor of Ye AVA:

Credit is due in many ways, but I will confine my remarks to one subject right now.

The work of Bruce Patterson has been steadily improving and lately by leaps and bounds, and just recently a grand jeté, mainly “Animal Husbandry.” On one level it's sort of like a longer version of some of those jokes you've been slipping in at the end of “Off the Record” occasionally. In some ways, sort of a shaggy dog story featuring some philosophical doodlings though considerably more entertaining. Whatever one might call it, it was brilliant with impeccable style and spot on timing. I think he's right up there with Mark Twain, Will Rogers, maybe better, with a streak of Honest Abe's sly humor and almost Chekovian ability to bring character into focus.

Keep the excellent stuff rolling off the presses and keep on fanning them flames.

Carol Pankovits

Fort Bragg

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HOW TO STAY IN BUSINESS

Dear Mr. David Hock, Editor, Hawaii Tribune-Herald:

A greater supporter of local news reporting than I would be hard to find. I enclose a copy of the Anderson Valley Advertiser which, to my mind, is the best of its kind. I assume the Tribune-Herald must be struggling to survive and you know what you are up against better than anyone else. My hope is that the AVA may give you some fresh ideas to help you stay alive and well.

Please allow me to float a few ideas for your consid­eration. First of all, I realize you're not in the enviable position of Bruce Anderson who, as chief cook and bot­tle washer for an independently owned and operated local weekly, can publish just about anything he darn well pleases. But in a time when most people get most state, national and international news from radio, TV or online, I don't think it's a good business model to devote so much column space to a watered-down version of the same. The AVA model which does in-depth coverage of local government, the courts and events and concerns of the local community, may be the way to go. If you are being squeezed to downsize even more, perhaps you might cut down to three editions a week, giving your reporters more time to cover the local beat.

I've never been to Anderson Valley and I don't know a soul there, but after being turned onto the AVA some 20 years ago, I've been subscribing ever since. The AVA, despite being local, has such general appeal that it has a large out-of-town subscription-base. One of the reasons is that it features and encourages letters to the editor and it devotes plenty of space to them. I'll bet you'd be flooded with letters if you open the gates. Or, to judge from the lag time between when I've sent letters to you and the time they are published, perhaps they are already pouring in — go with the flow?

Though some of the stories, articles and opinion pieces come from new services, most of the content is locally generated. It has some paid staff, but my under­standing is that most if not all of the regular columnists and contributors do it for love and get a mere pittance if anything at all. I'll bet again that you'd find many of the same in Hilo and the Hawaian Islands if you put out the call and/or recruited them. For some reason Harry Kim pops into my head. Can he write? Guest columns and opinion pieces from people who have played or are still playing prominent roles in our civic life and whose opinions we'd like to read…

Last but not least are the great quotations scattered throughout the paper. They alone are almost enough to make me subscribe! Also, check out the Sheriff's log — the paper has a sense of humor too.

If any of this is of any help I'll be pleased. But in any case I'm rooting for you.

Aloha,

Bill Brundage

Kurtistown, Hawaii

PS. I just can't get over how Rush Limbaugh who con­siders himself a great American patriot can proudly declare that he hopes President Obama will “fail.” He couldn't disagree with Obama's politics any more than I did those of Bush, but I didn't want Bush to fail: I wanted him to do a wiser, better job. If the US presidency, sym­bolized by the American bald eagle, is to take flight with the promise that Obama held out for hope and change, then we don't need a one-man murder of crows trying to bring him down. If I were a Limbaugh's Donald Trump, I'd fire him.

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BACKDOOR COMPLIMENTS

Dear Colonel Anderson,

By golly, you printed the thing! The quality of your mercy, sir, is appreciated. My compliments to the tran­scriber. Meticulous job.

The use of an alias was a deft touch. Any content or calumny elicited by the letter — if anyone reads it — will thereby be subverted and diverted into harmless channels.

Forward with the AVA!

Don MacQueen

Eugene, Oregon

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POLITICAL ALZHEIMER'S

Editor,

Many GOP and Tea Party enthusiasts seem to suffer from substantial memory losses when it comes to rele­vant events of the last decade in the role of George Bush in the nation's current economic and military woes. Could this represent a new clinical syndrome — Political Alzheimer's? Specifically, do the facts exonerate Bush or do they argue that his administration was one of the worst in United States history?

Facts: 1. Because of unfunded wars, and unfunded expansion of Medicare, part D, and $3 trillion ransacking the United States treasury ("tax cut"), which greatly favored millionaires and other GOP supporters in eight short years Bush turned a federal revenue surplus (inher­ited from Clinton) into the largest budgetary deficit in United States history.

2. To finance this huge debt, Bush and the feds reduced interest rates to record low levels, stimulating a housing “bubble” and causing an ensuing credit crisis that two years ago brought world financial markets within an “eyelash” of a second Great Depression and mortgaged our nation's and grandchildren's economic future to foreign investors who bought this debt.

3. I believe Bush's greatest failure, however, was his war on terror. His administration was “asleep at the switch,” not only in failing to prevent or anticipate the 9/11 attacks, but no one in the Bush cabinet ever both­ered to read anti-terrorism czar Dick Clarke's memoran­dum that predicted them more than nine months before they occurred and instead of pursuing bin Laden and the perpetrators of these attacks, Bush chose to invade Iraq, leading to over 5,000 US deaths, tens of thousands in casualties and $1 trillion in wasted Chinese money. Eight years later, our prosecution of the war on terror is still essentially where it was in 2002 — 03.

Thus, Bush's place in history as one of the worst United States presidents is secure and a number of right-wing pundits should have their memories checked out.

Jeffrey Shear

Florence, Oregon

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HEY-HO, MENDO!

Dear AVA,

Greetings to one and all in my beloved Mendocino. Just a quick note to thank you for the little red warning label informing me that my subscription is up. So, hold tight. Give me a month and I will have a year's subscrip­tion sent to you.

I'm doing okay. Can't really complain, not that it would do any good anyway. It is what it is. I broke the law, got caught, and now I'm doing my time. My journey to fire camp is moving along. I am almost done with my training. Then it's on to camp real soon. By far a much better place to do my time. With the added time cuts of being a firefighter for Calfire and the Department of Corrections I should be out by next May.

That's all for now. Tell everyone there at the AVA I send mine. You guys do an awesome job with your paper. Receiving it is the highlight of my week. Special wishes go out to Mendocino County this year for a happy harvest. To my kinsmen, homeboys and beautiful homegirls, I miss you all.

Hailsa,

Mark Patrick Radcliffe #T-86131

SCC Mariposa 71-05

5150 O'Byrnes Ferry Rd.

Jamestown, CA 95327

PS. Write to me Mendo. PPS. To the fellows in C. Tank: I send all mine. To Coke: Sorry to hear about round one. You'll get them in round two, don't trip. PPPS. I grew up on the Boonville Road, Ukiah side. We probably ran into each other many times. I look forward to receiving the AVA here. When I leave here I'll send an address change and they will follow me. Thanks again.

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FAHRENHEIT 350

Editor,

As an environmentalist who loves this planet, I fight global warming with words. But now, far more effectual than my lyrics is the number 350. That's the upper limit for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as measured in parts per million. Anything above that, says NASA sci­entists, is incompatible with “the planet on which civili­zation developed.”

Today, our atmosphere is at 392, which helps explain the hottest summer in history, the fires in Russia, and the floods in Pakistan. It's time to change our habits. From 23 April until 7 October I park my Mercedes, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Ammy), and I hike and take the MTA. But without the United States international agreements we are in a “save the Earth ice age.” Let's oust elected officials who fail to act on global warming. Cut the trees and feel the breeze.

Diana Vance

Mendocino, where it's dry and windy

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DEPRIVATION

Dear AVA newspaper and to whom it may concern!

My name is Michael Dieters and I am currently incar­cerated until the third week of this month. I am writing to you because I like what I see in your newspa­per and what other people have to say about what goes on around them in our so-called beloved county. It really sucks being in jail. When I have left this hellhole of a place I will have spent five months here. I cannot wait to be rid of some of these inmates, the medical staff (if that is what you would call it) and these guards and every­thing else that goes with it. Not all of them, of course, but most of them.

Anyway, the reason I am writing to you is I have got­ten into it with another inmate and I had to defend my­self from being beaten up. In so doing I was placed in a single cell in what they call the 400 wing by myself which I prefer with such a short time left and all. I was looking out this little window slit in the door that allows me to see out and I could see one of the better guards they have working tonight passing out this night's mail and I saw him passing out your one and only Anderson Valley Advertiser. I didn't get any mail. I haven't received any for awhile. So I decided to ask him if I might read it. His answer: “No, I have promised it to someone else.” You know what that means: I'll never see another one unless I write you a letter asking if you could send one of your newspapers to me. Otherwise, I will have nothing to read at all but some very lame books. I hardly get to read the newspaper at all without the guards breathing down my neck every few minutes or so asking me if I am finished. They do not leave peo­ple alone when people read your newspaper. In the other part of this jail there is at least one of your AVAs stuffed under one of the other inmate's mattresses for safe read­ing in case their reading world comes to a sudden end. Those tight asses.

Anyway, another lonely night without any decent reading material. I will just have to make sure I read your newspaper more often in private until I'm finished read­ing it. It doesn't hurt to ask. Thank you for taking time out to read my letter. Until then, may God be with you and your newspaper.

Sincerely,

Michael Dieter, without the AVA

Mendocino County Jail, Ukiah

PS. I think I will have to put more serious thought into becoming a subscriber when I get out.

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BAD MEDICINE: BACK TO CHICO

Dear Editor:

I am writing this in response to the recent articles about the Round Valley native peoples of Covelo. I am not from this area. I am of mixed ancestry born in South­ern California. I live in the Six Nations area of New York. I am a spiritualist who has walked a spiritual path for many years. I claim no knowledge beyond what Grandfather/Great Spirit/God or whatever you choose to call the most high puts into my heart.

My friend here, David Frank Jr. of the Yuki people of Round Valley and I discussed our reading of the arti­cle in the Press Democrat. We discussed positive and negative spiritual effects and influences on and of places, homes, and land areas due to violent destructive and painful incidents that have happened in the history of an area, people or nation.

I was informed by David Frank Jr. and your article that the people in Round Valley are actually several dif­ferent tribes who were forced together through the trav­esty of a 100 mile forced march. This created a situation where people of disparate cultures, languages and beliefs etc. (read enemies) were forced to live together. It seems to me that the fact that these people still live is a great success and a thumb in the nose of all those who sought to do away with them, the people of Round Valley.

I understand the need to reconnect with the ancestors by people who have had their culture stolen many times and feel as if they have a hole in their soul. The disconti­nuity of the people makes our hearts scream for healing.

My question is about the negative or bad medicine that was originally brought to Round Valley. Though I know that Trails of Tears over the continent are reen­acted every year — Lakota, Cherokee etc. — is it not possible that these reenactments, though they reconnect us with the past, also bring the spirit of travesty back to our your home?

Has no one ever considered having a group, or even a single person, spending a dedicated period of time sweating, fasting and praying? Then after an appropriate period asking the ancestors to help carry all of that bad medicine back to Chico?

It just seems to me that Round Valley has had enough pain and suffering. Rather than going to get more, it should at least be considered. The idea is returning all of the bad medicine and the intentions that created the pain to whence it came in a good way.

In order to heal the land, our homes and our friends we must heal ourselves. Many times to heal from the past we must do new things to create a healthy future. According to most of the traditions that I know, the things that we think, choose and do effect the next seven generations of our people — in other words, our future!

Nutmeg Witless is a middle-aged Tracy Flick, star of the 1999 movie, “Election,” played by Reese Wither­spoon as a strident, humorless, witless, prissy high school student who will do absolutely anything to get elected student council president.

Governor Moon Pie's rigid platform includes a voo­doo tinkle down economic plan where the rich, from a great height, will piss down on the rest of us.

Governor Moonbeam's fluid platform includes a woo-woo twinkle down economic plan where he will wave a magic wand and sprinkle rhetorical stardust chanting “Wishing will make it so.”

Of course, neither plan will work because California is integrally linked to the global economy's great defla­tion. As individual Americans grow larger, the economy continues to shrink. Something's got to give — like in the Monty Python movie where the grotesquely obese guy waddled into a fancy restaurant and ordered every­thing on the menu, then stuffed himself until he exploded, leveling the place and stiffing them for the bill.

Since 70% of the American economy depends on “consumer spending” — buying crap we don't need with money we don't have — economists blame the economic collapse on an “epidemic of thrift.”

Many of the fortunate Americans who still have jobs are wising up to the Ponzi scam and reducing mindless consumption. If the trend continues, the government may intervene and force them at gunpoint to spend or die and banks will start charging reverse interest to store savers' money. Credit card companies already have a derogatory term for consumers who pay off their balance every month: deadbeats. The American way of life is not negotiable: “You can never get enough of what you don't really need.”

The aloof, detached, Smiley Obama is acting like he's still president of Harvard Law Review. It's Rome Redux. Nero fiddled while Rome burns and Obama twitters while America drowns in a vast whirling cesspool of red ink as economic pundits praise the “job loss” recovery.

So, in these final days, who you going to pick for guv, Bunky?

I'm selecting Governor Moonbeam because he's thrifty, drifty, shifty and has an enlightened view on the use of pot, epitomized by his early campaign statements: “We've got to compete with China, and if everybody's stoned, how the hell are we going to make it?” … “If you want to get high, meditate.”

PPS. “Gloves” — a young man wished to buy a pair of gloves for his sweetheart's birthday so he went to an expensive boutique and bought the finest gloves avail­able and asked the saleswoman to have them delivered with a note. While wrapping the gloves, a clerk acciden­tally mixed up the order and sent a pair of panties instead. Here's the note the young man wrote to his sweetheart: “Darling, I chose these because I noticed that you are not in the habit of wearing any when we go out in the evening. I would have chosen the long ones with buttons, but because your sister wears the short ones that are so easy to remove, I decided to get the same style for you. Although these are a delicate shade, the lady I bought them from showed me a pair she had been wear­ing for three weeks and they were hardly soiled. I had the salesgirl try them on for me and she really looked smart. I wish I could be there to put them on you for the first time. No doubt many other hands will touch them before I see you again. When you take them off remember to blow in them before putting them away as they will naturally be a little damp from wearing and be sure to keep them on while cleaning them so they won't shrink. Just think how many times I will kiss them during the coming year! I hope you like them and will wear them for me Friday night. All my love. PS. The latest style is to wear them folded down with a little fur showing.

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WIRELESS TRESPASS

Editor,

Supes News—

Last Tuesday I attended the Ft. Bragg meeting of the Board of Supervisors with 40 to 50 concerned citizens. Most came to counter PG&E’s presentation on Smart grid and meters to the Supts. PG&E representatives painted a glorious transition to the smart grid and how we would all be so happy with the installation. They failed to address the 20,000 complaints, or State Senator Dean Florez’s demand for an investigation into these complaints. They said they had tested their meters and found them flawless, but noted that the customer rela­tions was poor. I have to agree after 5-6 calls to their not-so-smart telephone grid, that none of the PG&E repre­sentatives I talked to, responded with the same answer, except that this grid is the wave of the future and no one can opt out. I have been in bad waves in the ocean and our progressing economy. I have seen limbless Thalido­mide babies, read about toxic silicon implants, nasty asbestos, questionable killer drugs and even local chro­mate poisoning. Future waves can be very deceptive.

The first woman up after the techno love-in seemed to have missed the true meaning of PG&E’s message. Her family has been avoiding wireless devices and she was like Joan of Arc with sword ready except her small child squealed in her embrace, as she claimed she would not have a smart meter. She laid out solid evidence for concerns. She did her homework and wanted an opt. out. Each speaker, noted concerns about privacy, damage to personal equipment and had strong concerns about the blanket manner that wireless technology would be cov­ered in our communities with no opting out. The problem is that the devices are designed to penetrate a home to get Smart appliance information, and monitor our use, so PG&E can “show us how to use our power better.” I mentioned in my letter to Supervisors, that PG&E was expanding their easement illegally to broadcast without a license into my home. Several commented that informa­tion on the internet could be hacked, and how Smart thieves, super savvy business folks and PG&E paying Smart Appliance makers would utilize the data for a greater intrusion into our lives. Digressing just a little here, I want to note that people using the wrong wireless routers or ones that are too strong are also violating the homes and apartments of others. I see this as a new wave of trespass lawsuits. Never turn your back on the waves! There are stringent laws around trespass and air space. As would be the case and thanks to the FCC, these peo­ple have no technological skills or licensing for broad­casting their signal. Imagine doing that with FM, the FCC’s heavy hammer of unbiased (Ha!) regulator would fall quickly.

A few electro Hypersensitive (EHS), talked about how they would have no place to go. They talked about Europe’s precautionary approach and exponentially lower standards of exposure to what our FCC is calling safe, even as the FCC standard is causing brain tumors. I mentioned the 5-10% EHS documented in the popula­tions of Ireland and Sweden and how Sweden has cre­ated housing where these folks can live. The new hous­ing not only is missing wireless, it has no AC power, because hypersensitized folks can not live with that kind of normal power. There is no going back once one has EHS. Victims have to seek unexposed housing and avoid markets, libraries etc. Living around wireless is like Rus­sian roulette with your genetic defense the only retardant. Think about it. In Europe, EHS people may be able to survive, but not here in the wireless saturated USA.

A few folks mentioned that the complaints that State Senator Florez was addressing had a lot of folks very angry as the new wave had double, tripled, quadrupled, octadupled their power bills. And like a good democracy where one can’t talk about the obvious wireless health impacts, the burden of proof is on the consumer and not the company, who keeps monthly records that show a wild increase in power consumption post the Smart meter wave. I added that the meters are causing fires and have been interrupting or damaging home appliances like heaters, AC, refrigerators, computers and more. This may be because PG&E is using a general microwave frequency instead specific one. That would cost PG&E. General frequencies are used for computers and a myriad of wireless devices. It is sort of like waterskiing through surfers without warning.

I mentioned that Cindy Sage of Sage Associates had documented the high harmonics of the wireless running on the power wires are creating spikes that home wire can not handle. She thinks the harmonics literally find and exacerbate wiring problems and could explain the fires inside of house.

The Supervisors responded to our concerns. Colfax and Smith directed the PG&E representatives to respond to the Supervisors with to our concerns. Supervisor Pinches worried about the cost of the program for consumers. The remaining Supervisors did not respond.

This crucial learn better consuming on the internet could be achieved with a savvy time of use meter that we can tap into locally. Even large businesses don’t need 24/7 constant monitoring to be more careful consumers. What is really happening is tax payers are paying for meter reader removal and privacy intrusion. The toxic wireless is a hideous extra wave.

Petitions are now circulating asking our Supervisors and State representatives to put a moratorium on Smart meters and allow sensitive folks to opt out in an effective way that protects them until tested by truly independent scientist.

A little extra history, the smart grid (AKA ‘smart meter deployment’, PG&E words) comes from the Fed­eral government with stimulus dollars that are accepted by State legislature (Wiggins, a cosigner) that directs the dough to PG&E. PG&E claims they have a mandate. While trying not to gag-laugh too much, I would say their joint lobbying process with other power producers has directed our tax dollars into their pockets.

Thanks

Greg Krouse

Philo

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COVELO REPORT TWO

Editor,

The Covelo/Round Valley area has been devastated by multiple multi-level marijuana raids,

over 50 arrests, confiscation of cash, computers and hun­dreds of plants, leaving the Indian Reservation

and the townspeople dazed, disoriented and severely shaken from a broad assault on their way of life.

To accomplish this, law enforcement had a two-fold war strategy, carried out at the end of September over several days. The Valley consists of approximately 1000 homes, 90% of which are estimated to be growing mari­juana. The town is isolated and poor with little else to sustain the people in the throes of tough times.

They weren't being rounded up and hung from trees. With Indians (and hippies), they do things differently nowadays. They go into dark dank corners like Covelo undetected and use marijuana persecution in lieu of lynching.

The first part of the war strategy was to buzz the neighborhoods from the air for days before the raids, with four helicopters reportedly flying the area, hovering low over homes and gardens, scaring people.

They then cut a systematic swath down four or five targeted residential streets, picking and choosing who to round up, which gardens to cut down, which assets to seize, which children to take.

It's a sinister thing when law enforcement steals assets from citizens to pay their eradication overtime. Judging by many compelling reports, there was no con­scientious distinction made between legitimate medical and non-medical use. The people of Covelo and the Indian Reservation were decimated by an overwhelming military force of county, state and federal troops.

The second part of the war strategy was to scour the National Forest for large trespass grows, with major media -- National Geographic -- photographing the war zone, as they did during the Vietnam War. From the jun­gles of Vietnam to the marijuana hinterlands of Covelo, "everywhere there is war", as Bob Marley sang in protest decades ago.

Despite universal opposition to outlaw growers using our national forests for prohibition profits, that does not justify invading a nearby impoverished Indian Reserva­tion and surrounding properties and businesses, as a guinea pig in the marijuana wars.

Covelo was also the site of the federal DEA raid last July of Joy Greenfield's medical marijuana collective garden, despite being the first applicant approved and supposedly protected by Sheriff Allman's zip tie pro­gram. "After the DEA came up here and stole all my plants, they've now decided they're not interested in me. They say they were looking for someone else."

The DEA has returned Joy's computer and offered to return her $7500 cash, since they've determined their lat­est victim was not a criminal after all, even by their stan­dards. It is widely believed that legal thefts of marijuana gardens, such as Joy Greenfield's, create cash flow for law enforcement purposes -- a possible motive for her inexplicable raid. There is also the speculation that the Feds were trying to undermine trust in the county's medical marijuana zip tie program, which allows a 99 plant per parcel exemption.

The Covelo community has been hit again and again, the latest the most devastating. One patient and property owner was incensed. “They could have walked in peacefully and talked to us if they thought we weren't in compliance. We thought we were. Instead they came in here, hundreds of deputized law enforcement with heavy artillery, and destroyed our homes. It was so unneces­sary. We just need medicine to stay sane in this crazy world."

Another qualified patient said, "I'm livid right now. They're 100% out of line. We thought we complied. They're coming after us instead of the big guys in the national forest. I guess we're easy targets; they may as well send drones."

To show the people of Covelo they are not aban­doned, we need to use the press and explore the truth of what happened through the eyes of qualified patients and patient property owners, who believed they were legal and who now fear the forfeiture of their property before they can legally respond. We need an 800 number for people to contact to tell their story and volunteers to gather the testimony. This series of abuses against a poor vulnerable population is a massive injustice. It should bring out the ally in the rest of us to reach out to others when they're down. Bringing out the truth can turn this around.

Pebbles Trippet

Elk

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POTTER’S FIELD

Editor,

The Gumby Campaign

Wendy Roberts’ conservative backers are trying to mold her into their candidate; her moderate supporters are trying to mold her into something else. The poor gal’s campaign is becoming confused and malleably schizophrenic. I can’t help but think of the Gumby and Poky clay characters.

I’ve known Dan Hamburg for a long time. Closely following all his campaigns, he seems to start out politi­cally vulnerable but always ends up delivering the goods. Dan is bringing some strong tested creative ideas to this one. Sustainability, shop local and branding Mendocino and all it’s products, we are living and participating in our economic future, so let’s all get on board and help spur this process along with a vote for Dan Hamburg.